After a two-hour voyage, the Rising Sun arrived at the Dongtou Village Wharf.
It was peak time for fishing boats to dock, and the pier was bustling with activity.
After mooring the boat, Feng Ye went to borrow a cart from Feng Jiafa.
Then the four of them carried the snakeskin bags ashore and put them on the cart.
Some curious villagers gathered around and asked, "Ah Ye, did you go fishing? Didn't you trawle today?"
"No, they were requisitioned by Secretary Xiao and used as free labor to guard that area of the sea, to prevent anyone from going down there to retrieve things."
"Then you're losing out big time!"
"Who says otherwise? We don't know how many days we'll have to work this free job, and we're almost out of rice at home."
Those who heard this rolled their eyes in unison.
I don't believe you for a second!
How could people who make a living by the sea go hungry if they don't go out to sea for a few days?
"Come on, if your family doesn't even have rice to cook, wouldn't we be starving to death?"
“Ah Ye, we all have a pretty good idea of how much money you’ve made. It’s not as bad as you make it out to be.”
"Exactly, that's all nonsense. Everyone knows your family is rolling in money right now."
"..."
Feng Ye smiled but didn't offer any further explanation.
Little did they know, he was telling the truth; he really did run out of rice.
Some people asked doubtfully, "Is it really working for free? Don't you get any compensation?"
"Of course there are subsidies, but how much are they? They're not even as much as what we get from hauling a whole net."
"That's true. By the way, what's in your snakeskin bags? Shellfish?"
"Wouldn't it be boring to stay there? There happened to be an island nearby, so I took them there to dig for some shellfish."
"You can't be bored. Even if you have to stand there and can't use a net, you can still fish."
"Oh, the mere mention of fishing breaks my heart. I was indeed fishing, and I even caught a big fish, but before I could even see it, it snapped my fishing rod and got away..."
Feng Ye looked regretful.
Upon hearing this, everyone sighed with regret.
"Oh, right. You all need to pass this message on for me, and tell them to stop thinking about those things at the bottom of the sea. We're all from the same village, and if I kick them out, it'll seem heartless; if I don't, I won't be able to explain it to them. It's a difficult situation for me."
After chatting for a while, and having loaded all their catch onto the cart, the four of them pushed the cart toward Feng Jiafa's purchasing point.
Feng Jiafa was receiving goods in the shop when he saw them pushing the cart over. He was initially quite happy, but he didn't expect that Feng Ye would just take two buckets off the cart and walk into the shop.
"Ah Ye, what's wrong with you today? How come you only have such a small harvest?"
Feng Jiafa looked at the fish in the bucket. Although there was a decent grouper, the number was far too small, only about twenty, and most importantly, they were all alive. This puzzled him.
"I didn't use a trawler today; I was mainly out on patrol. These are all fish I caught myself, so there aren't many."
Fang Yi and his team didn't bring in the scallops and other seafood they had caught while diving, and they didn't bring in all the fish either; they left a few behind.
What's in the snakeskin bags on that cart?
Feng Jiafa watched Fang Yi and the others push the cart further and further away, a puzzled look on his face.
"They're all shellfish; we took them to the nearby islands to dig them up."
After chatting for a few minutes and selling the fish, Feng Ye carried the empty bucket home.
On the way, they caught up with Fang Yi and the other two, who were pushing a cart ahead.
"You live at the village committee, right? I can drop you off there first since it's on my way, and then I'll go back."
"Yes, I'll stay there temporarily."
Upon arriving at the village committee, after unloading their oysters, yellowfin tuna, scallops, and other seafood, Feng Ye said, "I'll go back first and come back later."
"Okay, by the way, take some scallops back for your family to eat. There are so many, we can't possibly eat them all."
As Fang Yi spoke, before Feng Ye could refuse, he poured about half of the scallops onto the ground to keep for himself, and put the rest, along with the basket, onto the cart.
Feng Ye didn't stand on ceremony and said with a smile, "Then thank you very much."
“I remember there were two other people on your boat, one was your brother, named Feng Xuan, and the other was Feng Shucan, right? Let’s invite them over for dinner later.”
“My brother can’t come; he went out to sea on a big ship. As for Ah-chan, I’ll call him.”
"Come over soon, we're waiting for you, Chef. There are so many things we don't know how to cook."
"No problem, I'll take it back and come right away."
After Feng Ye finished speaking, he pushed the cart alone and walked towards home.
In the yard, three little ones are playing.
"Father."
"uncle."
"uncle."
Seeing Feng Ye return, they all ran over calling out to him.
Feng Ye bent down, picked up Feng Xinan, and placed her on the cart.
When Feng Xinan saw the scallops in the basket, she cried out and rushed to the basket. Her little hands excitedly grabbed the scallops and started playing with them, as if she had found a fun toy.
"scallop?"
When they saw what Feng Xinan was holding, both Feng Xidong and Feng Yanmei's eyes lit up.
Feng Xidong immediately rushed to the cart, stood on tiptoe and peered into the basket: "Wow, there's so much! Uncle, can Grandma make some for us?"
As he spoke, he looked at Feng Ye hopefully.
"Nan Nan wants to eat too..."
Upon hearing that there was food, Feng Xinan, without thinking twice, also shouted out.
Feng Ye smiled and said, "Alright, alright, go get a basin and wash your hands, then have your grandma make it for you."
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